Monday, February 9, 2009

Talk Radio Running the GOP?

There has been a lot of talk lately in the media about the lack of leadership in the GOP and speculation that talk radio hosts including Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh are taking control and becoming party leaders. I disagree with the notion that conservative talk radio hosts are attempting to become party leaders and I would argue that the hosts are simply providing a voice of opposition to President Obama's policies. Rush Limbaugh has consistently been cited as the leader of the talk show coup against Republican leaders, and that should come as no surprise when considering that Limbaugh has been the most-listened-to talk show host since the mid 1990's. Limbaugh has an estimated 14 million listener base and recently signed a contract earning him $38 million a year through 2016. Limbaugh has also stirred the most controversy since the inauguration of President Obama, stating that "he hopes Obama fails." The media has been swift in playing Limbaugh's quote and criticizing him for not giving the President a chance to prove himself, but it is Limbaugh who has not been given a chance to criticize the new President. Taken out of context, Limbaugh's statement does seem premature and irresponsible in the sense that all Americans are depending on President Obama succeeding as President for the good of the country, but Limbaugh's statement is perfectly clear in the view of Conservatives who do not want to see America transformed into a socialist country. Limbaugh's statement in its entirety is in defense of American ideals of democracy, capitalism, and the free market. Limbaugh made it known that if President Obama's policies are going to turn the country into a socialist county, that he hopes President Obama fails, and so do I. President Obama was elected with a record indicating that he was the single most Liberal Senator in the Senate and it is only natural that liberal policies are going to be implemented. Conservatives must have the opportunity to oppose the Liberal agenda and it is no surprise that we would want Liberal policies to fail.Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity have been critical of the stimulus bill that President Obama has been exhaustively advocating. Sean Hannity hosts a syndicated radio program on hundreds of stations across the country and hosts an hour long program weekdays on the Fox News Channel. Hannity has been opposed to the stimulus bill since President Obama began pushing for it, claiming that the bill is polluted with pork spending and will do very little to improve the economy. Limbaugh has dubbed the stimulus bill the "Porkulus" bill and urges Republican Senators daily not to vote for the bill. House Republicans stood strong and not a single Republican member of Congress voted for it. Conservative Talk Show Host's opposition to liberal policies should not be seen as an attempt to exert control over the GOP and should be seen as constructive criticism. Conservative Talk Show Hosts are rallying the Conservative base and putting social issues back in the spotlight, allowing Republicans to shine. There is a visible lack of leadership in the GOP, but Limbaugh and Hannity are not trying to fill the positions, they are attempting to educate their listeners so that those listeners can then select the new leadership that can rebuild the GOP.

4 comments:

look out, i got a lot to say!! this is why i didn't do a political blog... heh-heh

i think that rush limbaugh is incredibly caustic to a decent person's sensibilities. railing against political correctness out of spite is for teenagers. the man has suffered immense arrested development with regard to appropriate social behavior. he reminds me of no one more than that beastly little big man i went to high school with who lived to get a chuckle from his "friends" (those kids that pretended to like him so they wouldn't be his next victims, though often they were anyway) at the expense of the fat girl or the unpopular boy or the kid whose father committed suicide.

he's a hate-monger, and a peddler of deliberate mis-truths, and he deserves to be called out for it. i believe that a person fails in their civic duty when they unhesitatingly believe what this guy tells them, and even worse, laughs at his monstrous sense of humor. but some people like that in an entertainer... or their party leader.

i prefer to look for guidance from practitioners of love and respect, and people whose goal it is to aid others, not to step on their backs in the climb to personal success.

and as to the matter of opposition to stimulus bills, i wonder: if the stimulus was strictly for corporations, the fabulously wealthy, and him personally (rather than that nonsense about education, food assistance, medical care for the uninsured, and job-building), if he and hannity would be more supportive. were they as critical of bush when he gave hundreds of billions to the banks (whose ceo's made incredible bonuses even in failing in their management, while there was no fathomable benefit to people and businesses that need the credit) and came up with his stimulus plan? i don't know because i rarely listen to him, but it's my suspicion that he spent very little time on the matter, probably talking instead about how the clintons got us in to this mess. ??? oh that's right, republicans are always right; democrats are always wrong...

more on this later..if your open to the dialogue!

btw, is it true that before talk radio, limbaugh was a very wealthy banker who specialized in foreclosures? i don't know; that's just what i heard recently... we should research

Limbaugh was not a wealthy banker before he became a radio host. He dropped out of college and worked his way up in the talk radio business. He eventually started his own broadcasting company. He is a self made millionaire.

>>i think that rush limbaugh is incredibly caustic to a decent person's sensibilities.>>

Don't really listen to him, do you! In fact, I'd be willing to bet that you've never listened to him. I suggest you take the challenge and actually listen to him for one hour a day for two weeks or so. It might change your mind about him. Not necessarily about the political points he represents, but about him personally.

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About Me

I am a senior at the University of New Mexico. I am graduating in May of 2009 with a major in Political Science and a minor in Professional Writing. I have focused most of my academic study on politics and I have taken well over 60 credit hours worth of political science courses. My free time is usually consumed with keeping up on current political events and reading about past political events. Currently my favorite subject is U.S. Presidents and specifically their campaigns.